After a quick touchdown, the Warhawks struggled to move the ball in the air against the Plainville defense.

“We played good defense early,” Plainville coach Tim Shea said. “But we got tired. You can’t keep giving the other team the ball without offensive movement. Defense is going to get tired and they are going to find ways to score. That’s football.”

With the pass game sputtering, Outlaw finally turned to Butler and the ground game.

The senior took over almost immediately, kick-starting the Warhawks’ offense with his 70-yard touchdown run.

“They were loading the box and every play was just a blitz,” Butler said. “So we had to open it up and spread it out so they started to adjust to the pass and then surprise them with a run.”